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Gorgeous day up here in the great "green" North, so I took the Electra out for a duplicate of the trip I made with the Wagon a few weeks ago. Up the Sea to Sky Highway that leads from Vancouver to Whistler. Halfway up to Whistler is the small town of Squamish where there Howe Sound Brewery, a great spot for local craft beer and excellent food. The trip went well and as you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful fall day. The Electra performed well, although the day was not without some drama.
On the way home, the car sputtered and died while doing 60 mph... I coasted to the side of the highway and partially blocked the inside lane. As I was stalled out on the hill, there was no pushing it off the road, but luckily a buddy in his convertible Mini Cooper was able to stop behind me and there was good sight lines along the road so folks easily see me in time to move over. I could not restart the car, and every time I tried, the car would run rough for a few seconds and die again. Given the spot I was in, I called a tow truck and went back to fill in my buddy on what was going on. It really felt like I was out of gas (but had over a half tank). After about 10min of sitting there however, I was able to get the car started again and off I went gingerly. Cancelled the tow truck and made it home without further incident. Weird. I'll put the fuel filter to see if it has clogged up, but could high speeds down the curvy road contributed to the fuel starvation?

Nice day down here in central Texas. Put the carb back on the car after a rebuild and went for a ride among the cattle and horse ranches. Ended up at a distillary that my wife like and bought her some Prickly Pear Moonshine.
Car ran better then it ever has in the 2 or 3 years I have owned it.

All convertibles flex to some degree in fact every car will flex on a lift. I have personally used a lift on my 53 Buick Convertible and 53 Chevrolet convertible, they flex, and gaps change, doors will still open and close, never had one just open. I just talked with an owner of a 55 Chevrolet convertible, he had a transmission removed for repair the shop used a lift, gaps changed but returned to normal on the ground. Follow Al’s advice and confirm the frame has the stiffeners, then check your body mounts are they tight, then check for any rust in the rockers. The floor and rockers are a big part of the structure any loose body mounts or rusted areas will contribute to flex.
The convertible rocker on the inside panel just below the door latch area has an additional stiffer that is about 18” long it is sandwiched between the inner and outer rocker panel look closely in this area. Let us know what you find; I would bet the frame is correct and the body is loose on the frame.
I am very close to completing a complete floor replacement from the A pillars to the trunk and replacing rockers on my Buick. It will surprise everyone how much the frame flex is reduced when everything is tight and working as one big structure. It has taught me a few lessons for sure.
Steve

Sunday October 29, 2017: Some odds and ends
Installed the hand accelerator pull knob. It was hopelessly rusted together, so I had to cut it just after the metal sleeve inside, then restored all the parts that show.
I don't think I'm going to use it as originally intended. I'm thinking I may use it as a separate light switch to turn the Trippe lights on.
But it looks nice back into its spot anyway!
Windshield divider installed. I s l o w l y tightened the screws to allow the rubber to seat fully without bending anything.
Installation of the kick panels:
Very carefully marked all the holes while in the car and the edge of this panel aligned with the door opening nice and straight.
I started by peeling off the windlace. Then set this piece just where you want it to line up. Mark the holes in the car with a punch.
Pull this piece back out and I used a leather punch to punch nice clean holes for mounting.
This way you don't have ragged edges. Put this aside and time to finalize the fit of the windlace.
Using headliner adhesive, I gave a little "tug" downward to be sure it was seating nice and tight. Then, using the same punch I made a hole down the line.
I didn't want the screws to "bunch up" the fabric when installing the panel.
Bottom of the windlace. First I cut it about an inch long.
Then, making a much more precise mark, .........
I peeled back the outer fabric casing to expose the inner rubber.
Here you can see the final cut brings the rubber nice and flush to the floor of the car.
Then I rolled the fabric over the cut and the excess lays nice and flat so I can glue it down, set it under the sill plate..
So it stays nice and straight and won't pull off.
Finish marking and punching all the holes, giving the lace a little pull towards the front so when the panel drops in it all tightens up nice.
I think I'm going to find more decorative screws with the nice decorative washers, but these will keep it happy for now.
I know the upper end should cover the dash screw, but the dash was bent away from the car up there and when I tried to install it over that screw, the panel began to crease.
Plus, the dash keeps the panel in nice and tight, so I did it this way.
Have a great night!
Gary
Installing the rear roll-up windows tomorrow!

Welcome! Always great to have another enthusiast!
While posting descriptions and pictures here will certainly get you some good feedback, I would suggest an alternative.
Joe P mentioned the lack of competent mechanics today for sixties cars. How do you find one? Many areas have weekly/monthly/semi-annual whatever cruise-ins, often at the local arf-and-barf (a.k.a. fast food "restaurant"), but also a local park, car dealer, etc.
Attend one or more of these cruise-ins. Look at some of the sixties cars you see. Talk to the owners. Most car enthusiasts will be glad to show you their vehicle. This may give you insight as to what make and model you may prefer. Also, ask for guidance on local mechanics these folks have used.
No reason why you should not be able to drive a sixties vehicle in good shape year-round. We certainly did so in the sixties!!! If you reside in an area where there is snow (or here in Missouri where the Department of Transportation is helping the Department of Energy dispose of coal residue a.k.a. cinders each winter) you should probably check the undercarriage for undercoating, and if now currently done, consider doing this.
Everyone has their own favorite make, but you should pick your own. From a practical standpoint, there are probably more availability of parts for Fords and Chevies, but don't let this be your only selection criteria. Pick a vehicle YOU like.
Good luck, have fun, and again........WELCOME!
Jon.

My choice would be a well maintained original car not restored. There are plenty of decent old sixties cars around. Suggest you start with a lower priced model that is simple, with a small V8 or six cylinder engine and the minimum of power accessories. I like Plymouths and Dodges, in fact all Chrysler products. But there is a lot to be said for Chevrolet and Ford, especially when it comes to getting parts and repairs.
Really though, I would not turn up my nose at a good Pontiac, Olds, Buick or Mercury at the right price. There are some good buys out there especially in the less popular models like 4 door sedans. If you want a Mustang, GTO or Road Runner expect to pay through the nose.
Watch the ads and see what you can find. I like to peruse the ads, and find a great deal every 3 weeks or so. There are so many I have to purposely avoid looking at the ads or I would buy another one half a dozen times a year.

Probably the last run for the Electra until Spring. As if the car knew, it decided to strand me for a few minutes on the side of a busy highway with not much of a shoulder! Was able to get it restarted after 10min or so and made it home without any further problems. Not sure why it stalled, but nothing like losing power doing 60 mph on a busy, windy mountain road!

Welcome, Mr. Wondergrape!
Any good dedicated hobbyist is happy to help a newcomer.
I don't claim to be a mechanic, and I'm well involved in the hobby;
so don't feel that mechanical prowess is a requirement to owning
an old car. If our furnaces break, or our television stops working,
we're likely to take it to an expert. Everyone has different knowledge.
Consider buying a good price guide. One well-respected guide is the
price guide put out by Old Cars Weekly. Here is their annual book:
https://www.oldcarsbookstore.com/2018-collector-car-price-guide
Four-door sedans are the most economical body styles to buy,
because many collectors favor convertibles first, then 2-door hardtops.
So almost any 4-door sedan from the 1960's is likely to be a nice
survivor--a older person's car now in collectors' hands--than one that
had tens of thousands of dollars spent restoring it. As long as you
buy from a private owner, you should be able to find very good sedans
in the $5000 to $10,000 range.
Problems with parts, or problems with ethanol-laced gasoline,
won't stop you. A fairly common model should have no problem
with parts availability. Putting an ethanol treatment in the gas
with each tankful should obviate the damage from ethanol.
You definitely don't want to drive an old car in the winter,
because cars from the 1970's and earlier will rust badly:
Your pride and joy, and your monetary investment, will be
badly damaged, even ruined. So consider keeping your old car
as an occasional driver, one you can enjoy and preserve for decades.
If your car is kept for hobby purposes, with occasional fun jaunts
for other purposes, you can get antique-car insurance from good
companies such as Hagerty, J. C. Taylor, Grundy, etc., and you
may find the cost is only $75 a year!
You'll find this hobby to be a lot of fun!

I certainly have no issues with using a 60s vintage car as a daily driver (I'm doing that myself) but understand the issues so you do this with your eyes open.
If you are not doing the work yourself, you will have to find a VERY reputable mechanic who understands these cars. Depending on your location, these can be few and far between. While these cars are not complex, most "mechanics" today are only "parts changers". They plug in the scan tool and replace the part that the software says to replace. Sometimes this fixes the problem, sometimes it doesn't. None of them could diagnose their way out of a paper bag, and most have no clue about how the systems on cars actually work or how failures manifest themselves. Based on the questions I read on other forums, virtually no "mechanics" today know how to rebuild or tune a carb, how to replace points, or what a mechanical fuel pump is.
Since 1960s cars are half a century old, don't expect to run into your local parts store and get a replacement part when something breaks. At best, they will need to order it, which means the car will be down for a few days. At worst, replacement parts are not available and you need to either scour the internet to find a good used one or adapt something else. An example of this are the brake drums for the 1965-1970 Olds full size cars. They don't exist. What this ultimately means is that even if the older car is your daily driver, you need to have a backup vehicle for those times that it's down for maintenance.
Most insurance companies won't write collision policies for cars this old. They don't have actuarial data on repair costs any more and so can't price that coverage. It's easier to just say no. And whether you have coverage or not, unless the car you select is extremely popular, replacement body panels are not available for crash repair. In my case, I've accumulated parts cars to harvest spares. Living on a farm makes storing them easier.
Today's ethanol-laced gasoline wreaks havoc on old car fuel systems. Expect to have to replace rubber parts with modern materials if that hasn't been done already. The ethanol also causes problems with cold start (especially if the car has not been driven in several days). The fact that ethanol leans the fuel mixture also means that the carb may need to be re-jetted for best performance.
Again, these points are not intended to discourage you, only to help you make an informed decision.

Even if I was quite lately, work is continuing. It's not making sense to show each filler application or sanding!. The main body (rear fenders, roof, doors and trunk lid) are at 95% satisfying. I still have some improvements to do, especially at the cross panel between trunk lid and back window. We had a wonderful October month; therefore, I could do most of the surfacer job outside. Today, we said goodbye to the summertime and hello to the wintertime, the weather is getting cooler and humid.
I ordered the paint for the leather; it’s water based and I have to spray it with my airbrush because it seems that water based colors cannot be sold in a rat can. The blue paint for the leather is rather darker than the original medium blue. As the outside paint is also different, I choose a blue which is in harmony with the outside color. With the white bolsters, I will give a good contrast.
On the first picture, 3 leather parts at the right are ready to install, one with some chrome trim. The other parts are ready to be painted; the lower door trim panels will be done next. As you can see, I’m using quite a few leather colors; I just hope that I will have enough. The thickness is between 0.1 and 0.2 mm (0.004 to 0.008”); thicker leather cannot be used. The second picture is my leather’s stock.

Dave, great stance without abandoning the stock theme. Thank You for the info regarding suspension, front end alignment and handling. The 63 I have would look great 2” lower. The reason why I won’t lower my car is I have knee and back problems that make it a challenge to get in and out. Of course, I could go the expense and have it bagged. I won’t do that because the expense is something I don’t want to pay. Looks r e a l good tome because you have it all. Great Riviera style with a mod that does not fall out of the stock theme. My Red Riviera on a nice autumn day is attached.

Success strikes again ! Got the carb put back on the car this morning and the car started right away. I found it helps you if put the throttle return spring on. But it ran and after doing some minor tuning we went for a drive.
Car drives like it has never driven before. Good response, not bogs, hesitation or backfiring.
Idle needs some work and I have to reset the choke, but for the most part I am happy. It drives like my Riviera did.
I should have done this a long time ago instead of chasing imaginary ignition gremlins.
So now I have new points,. wires, cap and rotor along with coil PLUS a rebuilt carb. Cant ask for more.
It is time to drive the car.
I can't say enough about the Carb Kings kits. Had everything I needed to make this work. I am very happy.

mines not my primary transportation.if it dies i will have triple a tow it home where it can sit years if needed.i just found out today that my van may be MUCH cheeper to fix than i was hoping.i might go the route of building a bullet proof auto like the other guy did.id like to be able to tow a camper.

I'll jump in and say that Chevrolet cars from that era are a great starting point. The parts are plentiful and the number available is great. If you avoid 2 door hardtop models the prices can be reasonable too.
Terry

A comment was made on another thread about not underestimate the excavating work. No truer words can be spoken. I way under estimated the time to really get my site finished up. Not even Grass and flowers but just the amount of work to flatten a spot on a hill, then the drainage for the building and proper grading of the whole area. Seems all I do is get everything levelled off or graded properly, then dig it all up for something else.
I put stone in for the drainage of the eves, fortunately only on one side, when a friend told me i really should use a coarser stone without the dust. So i had to dig that whole side back out, 20 ton of stone and fill it with a different type. Fortunately I just used the reclaimed stone in the driveway.
I had to cut grade down in front of the garage 16 inches. That's alot of dirt to move with my small equipment. So much I now have a huge mountain of it and I filled in a large area behind my existing garage.
I finally think i am seeing the light of day, which is good as my building crew hasn't showed up so I'm going to have to start framing it myself.
I do have some more stone to put down but I think i have enough for the water to drain and not create such a mud pit like after the last deluge we had a few days ago.
It's suppose to be 3-5 inches of rain in the next day and a half. I'll see if i have everything properly pitched.
Of course the rocks have presented a bit of a challenge a well. All those you see and I buried alot of the others I found. My wife likes stone walls, so I have been stock piling them for future projects.

Original cars are encouraged to go with the HPOF class. A few years ago a friend had an original Marmon roadster he brought to the show, great running car, totally original except for tires. He wanted it in the regular class with other cars of that era not in the HPOF class and only when he insisted he be in that class and not the HPOF class did the people in charge back off. He has no interest in having his cars judged so that was not an issue. The same rules apply to all AACA events across the board, but each one will have it's own set of volunteers who will look at the cars differently.
I totally agree with Trimacar and think all cars should go into the regular class so you can look at all aspects and condition of vehicles of similar vintage.